Connecting rod for the suspension of vehicles



Nov. 1, 1927.

Filed Oct. 2. 1924 s Sheets-She et 1 Nova 19 4 G. H. E. DE RAMCONNECTING ROD FOR THE SUSPENSION 01" VEHICLES Z Filed 001.- 2. 1924 3Sheets-SheetZ lime/m1 6. 116.1,?

Nov. 1,' 1927.

' G. H. E. DE RAM connacwme ROD FOR' THE SUSPENSION or vsxucms FiledOct. 2. 1924' 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 illlllllllllll HL fiwenfar de EarnPatented Nov. 1,1927.

GEORGES HENRI nnnnsa: DE RAM, or nounoe'n'n, rnnnon. l

'oonnnc'rrne nonron 'rnnsnsrnnslon or vnnronnss Application filedOctober 2, 1924, Serial No. 741,207, and'in France October 2,1923.

shackle 14 and the ball and socket 13; The" T The present inventionrelates to an ar rangement for connecting mechanically an axle to thesuspended frames of vehicles in general. The' arrangements described aremore particularly applicable to selfpropelled vehicles.

, It is known that in order to isolate the car- 'riage from certainoscillations, it is indispensable to allow a certain lateraldisplacement to the axles. It'is also necessary to provide an elasticlateral pull-E to bring back the axle to its position of equilibrium.The lateral displacements of, the axle must moreover be braked to acertain extent, in

1 order that they may not affectprejudicially the good behaviour of thevehicle when travelling.

The connecting arrangement which constitutes the subject of theinvention fulfils all these conditions. It is shown byway of example inthe accompanying drawing, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 show in elevation and plan respectively and partly insection one con In Figs. 1 and 2 the axle is shown at 1;

the stress is transmitted through the Cardan tube 2 jointed to the frame3 by means of r the ball and socket joint 4.

Resilient suspension is obtained by means of spiralsprings 5, enclosedin cylinders 6 attached to the frame. These springs transmit theiraction to the shaft 7 through the piston 8, the short connecting rod 9and the lever 10, keyed on the shaft 7 This method of suspension hashowever been selected merely by way of example. It is of a known type,and naturally might be replaced by;

any other, the subject of invention consist- 7 ing essentially in theconnection of the shaft 7 to the axle 1.

' On the shaft 7 thereis keyed a sleeve 11 in which there engages thetail of the suspension rod 12 connected to the axle by the shackle lt'is jointed on the axle 1.

Y The suspension. rod '12 is provided at'its oth-er end with the nut 15,a resilient meni ber'l6 '(for example Belleville washers) and a frictionwasher 17. 'Asecond' friction washer 18 is'located at the back of thesleeve.

The lateral movements of the axleiare converted by a slight rotation ofthe suspension rods 12 in the sleeve 11, a rotation which isfacilitatedif needful by the addition of ball bearings 22 for the tail of the rod12. This rotation and consequently the lateral displacements ofthe axleare braked by the friction set up'by the washers 16 and 18'.

The axis AB of the sleeve 11 and 'of the I I rod 12 may be given afixedsuitable oblique 7 direction with, respect to the longitudinal axisof the frame, the purpose of such oblique direction being to; cause aforcible bringing back of the'axle to its position of lateralequilibrium. 1 V j The shackles 14; are provided soas not to interferewith the oscillations of the rear axle about the ball and socket 1. v

' Fig. 3 shows the. same method of connec- .tion applied to a rear axlewith free Cardan shaft. In this case the shackles 14: are omit ted; .Theconnecting rods 12 are connected f,

directly to the axle by ball and socket joints 13 and transmit thestress; shorter connecting rods 19taking their point of support on theframe by means of ballancl socket joints 20 and jointed to the rear axleby ball and socketjoints 21, offer resistance to the driving torque andto braking movements.

It is to be clearly understood the con- 1 structional details abovementioned have been given only by way of example and that the rotationofthe suspension rod, amongst other things, may be obtained by other Lmeans.

Claims: v I 1. In a motor vehicle havlng a frame member and a road wheelaxle member,

springs mounted on one of said members.

arms engaging the springs, sleeves carried 1 by said arms, links havingtheir outer ends pivotally connected to one of said members and providedat their opposite ends with. spindles rotatablymountedin said sleevesand means for checking free turning movementof the spindles in" thesleeves.

, 2. Ina motor vehicle, a frame and a.

road wheel axle, springs mounted on the frame, arms engaging thesprings, sleeves v Inf fixed to said arms, spindles rotatably mounted insaid sleeves, means for checking free rotation'of the spindles in thesleeves, second arms rigidly connected to the spindles, and ball andsocket joints connecting the outer ends of the second arms to the axle.

3. In a motor vehicle, a frame and a road' Wheel axle, springs mountedon the frame,

arms engaging said springs, sleeves fixed to said arms, rotatablespindles arranged in the sleeves, means associated with the sleeves forpreventing free rotation of' the spindles in the sleeves, second armsintegral With the spindles and extending away from said sleeves, andball and socket oints connecting the outer ends of the second arinstothe axle.

l. In a motor vehicle as claimed in claim "2, said sleeves convergingtoward each other and being inclined relatively to the horizontal.

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